World No.1 Hania El Hammamy clinched an epic five-game victory over Sivasangari Subramaniam to book her place in the final of the Qatar Classic, setting up a tantalising showdown with Amina Orfi for the women\u2019s World No.1 ranking position in Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El Hammamy, who will be joined by fierce rival Orfi as well as Mostafa Asal and Victor Crouin in tomorrow\u2019s finals, was forced to fight every step of the way to secure the enthralling 87-minute win over Sivasangari, holding off the World No.5 by an 8-11, 11-9, 15-13, 9-11, 12-10 scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a match which flowed with quality from the opening point to last, it was El Hammamy who weathered the relentless momentum swings and held her nerve deep in the fifth game, converting her second match ball to retain her position at the top of the world rankings for another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was very tough,\u201d El Hammamy said after the match. \u201cIt was extremely tough playing against Siva. I knew she was going to be on form today; she\u2019s playing for a spot in the Olympics next week. I knew she was going to be fiery and produce a good level of squash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m really pleased with how I fought with my squash there. I think I\u2019m getting better day by day, so I\u2019m really happy to get through today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been World No.1 for almost a year now and I don\u2019t think anyone is going to take that away from me. Of course I want to keep it as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her opponent in the final, World No.2 Orfi, made far lighter work of her semi-final opponent, requiring just 36 minutes to power past England\u2019s Jasmine Hutton in straight games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old, who will eclipse the great Susan Devoy as the youngest-ever women\u2019s World No.1 if she lifts the Qatar Classic title tomorrow, barely put a foot wrong as she staved off the attacking threats of World No.12 Hutton on her way to an 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the potential to reach World No.1 in the PSA Rankings, Orfi said after the match: \u201cIt would mean everything, but my focus is on winning the tournament. I know if I do that, this [being World No.1] will be the result of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, in the men\u2019s event, World No.5 Victor Crouin advanced to the second major final of his career following a hard-fought four-game victory over World No.4 Karim Gawad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crouin, who finished runner-up to Mohamed ElShorbagy in the 2022 edition of the Qatar Classic, burst out of the blocks with deserved 11-2 and 11-7 game wins. However, 2016 Qatar Classic champion Gawad came charging back into the contest and stood on the verge of sending the match to a fifth game, holding four game balls in a scrappy fourth game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Crouin repelled all four of Gawad\u2019s game balls before snatching the match at the first time of asking, sealing the 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12 victory after 75 minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt pretty good this morning waking up,\u201d Crouin admitted after the match. \u201cI felt good and it gave me the edge at the beginning of the match, to come out super strong, which I even surprised myself with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI missed the Qatar Classic in the last two years, so I\u2019m not going to miss it again in the future, because I clearly play well here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a good final again against Mostafa [Asal]. It\u2019s one more push, it\u2019s a final, it\u2019s a special day and I\u2019m going to give it my all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, World No.1 Mostafa Asal produced an imposing display on the all-glass court inside the Khalifa International Squash Complex, romping to a three-game victory over Marwan ElShorbagy to the loss of just seven points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Qatar Classic remains the one current major title which Asal hasn\u2019t won in his career to date, and the Egyptian looked in as strong a form as ever to complete his collection of major accolades, wrapping up the 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 win after just 33 minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s Semi-Finals<\/strong>: [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [7] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (33m); [5] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [4] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-1: 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12 (75m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s Semi-Finals<\/strong>: [1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2: 8-11, 11-9, 15-13, 9-11, 12-10 (87m); [2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (36m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" World No.1 Hania El Hammamy clinched an epic five-game victory over Sivasangari Subramaniam to book her place in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-15835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t